Chinese New Year Series – Celebrating activities of the Chinese New Year day in Hong Kong 新年系列 – 香港大年初一的一連串精彩活動

(photo source: 58pic.com)

Kung Hei Fat Choy! Friends, if you see this post, please send me red packet XDDD

Yesterday, I talked about the Chinese New Year Eve’s custom in Hong Kong. Today, I will talk about the Chinese New Year Day! Chinese New Year (CNY) is the most important festival for Chinese. In Mainland China, we have 7 days public holidays. In Hong Kong, we also have 3 days public holidays! I don’t know how the Mainland celebrates the CNY day. And I will tell you about what Hong Kong people will do IN CNY day!

恭喜發財！利是逗來！見到這篇文章的朋友，請先發個紅包給我～

昨天說了在香港我們如何渡過年三十除夕晚，今天要說說香港的大年初一活動了！新年是中國人最重要的節日，中國一共有7點的春節假期，香港也有3天的公眾假期，我也不知道現在內地如何渡過年初一，不過在香港，我們也有不少年初一的活動！

---

New Year’s visit拜年

(photo source: mamibuy.com)

In CNY, the juniors will visit the elders’ home. It’s a kind of blessing in tradition. So junior will bless the elder like “Kung Hei Fat Choy”, which means “wish you earn a lot in the coming year”. Now, it becomes an activity for gathering and of course, “get red packets” XD. But some modern families in HK start to skip this traditional activity. Like mine, my last New Year’s visit should be 10 years ago already.

拜年仍是必不可少的事情了，不論是親戚、朋友或是師長，我們仍愛到他們到家裡拜年，一是聚舊，二當然是紅包！不過，現在香港很多現代家庭都未必會去拜年了，就像我家，已經過了很多年不拜年的新年。

The International CNY Night Parade花車巡遊

(photo from hk01.com)

The International CNY Night Parade should be the biggest event of Hong Kong in CNY. Organized by HK Tourism Board, it started in 1996 and was elected as one of the world’s most admired entertainment events by “Lonely Planet” in 2007!

The event starts at 8pm on the CNY day at Tsim Sha Tsui. There are over ten floats by different organizations like Disneyland, Ocean Park, HK Jockey Club etc. Sometimes there are also foreign organization like the Thailand Tourism Board and the Government of Seoul, Korea. Besides, on the main stage, there are numbers of local and international performance teams varies from dance, cheerleading, juggling, etc. This year, The main organizer invited XPOGO stunt team from USA, who holds 13 current Guinness World Records.

花車巡遊絕對是香港新年最大型的活動，1996年開始由香港旅遊發展局發起，在2007年更獲Lonely Planet評為全球最值得欣賞的娛樂盛事之一。

近年的花車巡遊都是在大年初一晚上8時於尖沙咀舉行，邀請十數個團體進行花車演出，迪士尼公園、賽馬會、海洋公園等，有時亦會有外國團隊參與，如泰國旅遊局及韓國首爾市政府，他們將走遍半個尖沙咀，巡遊接近90分鐘。除了巡遊，主舞台更會有數十隊本地及國際團隊的各種才藝演出，如舞蹈、啦啦隊、雜技等等，今年就邀請了擁有13項健力士世界紀錄的美國彈跳隊伍「XPOGO」！

(photo source: hk01.com)

The Night Parade attracts thousands of audiences, making Tsim Sha Tsui the most crowded place in Hong Kong on the CNY day. But I am not interested haha. I tried participating in the preparation of part of the Parade. I still remembered the overnight rehearsal and the outdoor cold weather. So, please don’t ask me to go.

每年的花車巡遊都吸引了數以萬計的觀眾，是香港大年初一最多人的地方，不過我就不去了，因為人太多了！加上我也曾經參與過花車巡遊的一小部份，尤記得通宵的排練，加上寒冬的戶外，花車巡遊實在提不起我的興趣！

Hong Kong Well-wishing Festival 香港許願節

（photo source: youtube channel of Dd tai）

In Tai Po, there is a village called Lam Tsuen which has the history of 700 years. In the village, there are two big banyan trees. The villagers treated the two trees as god. They believed that during festival, if they throw a wishing paper called “Baodi” with an orange giving weight onto the trees and the wishing paper doesn’t fall onto the ground, their wish will come true. In 1998, a TV series talked about the main characters go to throw their wish onto the trees. Soon the tradition is well known in Hong Kong.
Today, the tradition has been developed to HK Well-wishing Festival starting from the CNY day and last for 15 days. There are a lots of performances and activities. The HK Tourism Board also put the exhibition of CNY Night Parade at the village. Some of the performance teams of the CNY Night Parade will also perform in the HK Well-wishing Festival!

在香港擁有700年歷史的林村，那裡有兩棵大榕樹，被林村村民視為神靈，村民在大時大節都會將寫有願望的寶牒連上一個樹拋上大樹，如寶牒不跌下來就意味著願望將會成真。這本來只時林村的習俗，但在1998年TVB劇集《冤家宜結不宜解》將這習俗宣揚開去，自此吸引了市民於新年都到林村許願，慢慢演變成現在一連15天的香港許願節，每天都有多個表演活動，旅發局更會在花車巡遊後，在大埔林村放置花車巡遊展覽，亦邀請了其中幾隊的花車巡遊表演隊伍到許願節演出。

The wishing tree was under treatment in 2005 接受治療的許願樹
(photo source: Wikipedia)

As too many people throwing their wishes, in 2005, one tree couldn’t stand for the weight and one of the main branched was broken. Luckily, the tree was finally healed after 3 years. Since the accident, people are not allowed to throw wishes onto the trees again. As an alternative, the main organizer ordered a “fake wishing tree” made of glass and plastic. The wishing paper with an orange becomes a wishing card with a plastic orange. So we can still throw our wishes onto the fake wishing tree.

由於每年都有大量市民都許願樹拋寶牒，在2005年，終於有一棵許願樹的主幹不勝負荷倒塌，幸好，經過三年救治，這棵許願樹最終都活過來。自此，為了保護兩棵老榕樹，我們已不能再拋寶牒到樹上了，大會因而訂製了一棵玻璃鋼細葉榕，市民仍可以拋許願卡到這樹上。

Sleeping 睡覺

（photo source: ifuun.com）

It’s my activity. It’s also the only activity of young people on the CNY day in Hong Kong. As most of us just played all night until sunrise, the CNY day is the day for us to rest XD.

這是我每年年初一的活動，亦是很多年輕朋友的年初一活動，由於我們在除夕大多玩到天光才回家，所以年初一對我們來說，是休養生息的一天XD。

---

How’s the CNY day in our city? Share to us~

不知道在你們的城市，又有沒有特別的慶祝活動？歡迎分享一下！

---

Thanks for spending your time to read my articles. I like to share stories of Hong Kong. I wish you may support me and I will keep going!
謝謝你能抽空閱讀這篇文章，我平日喜歡分享香港的故事，希望大家多多支持，我會繼續努力！